Nipple-Squeezing Manager Not Guilty of Harassment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/09/2014
Donald Rickard worked in sales for tobacco company Swedish Match North America, Inc. (SMNA) for nearly 30 years. He retired in 2011 at 55 years old. Shortly thereafter, Rickard sued SMNA claiming, in part, that he was harassed by his supervisor, Perry Payne, because of his age and gender. Rickard v. Swedish Match N. Am., Inc., No. 13-3729 (8th Cir. Dec. 2, 2014). Rickard and Payne (age 54) did not see eye to eye. Rickard “objected to Payne’s...
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EEOC May Sue State Court for Discrimination in Federal Court

A federal court ruled that a Pennsylvania state court that allegedly fired an employee because of her age does not have 11th Amendment immunity to avoid a lawsuit on the fired employee's behalf brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  EEOC v. Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny Cnty., No. 14-899 (W.D. Pa., Oct. 15, 2014). In February 2012, a staffing agency assigned 70 year old  Carolyn...
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Court Upholds $3.7 Million Age Discrimination Verdict Against IBM

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/27/2014
On July 23, 2014, a  federal court in Connecticut  upheld a jury's award of $3.7 million to a 61 year old executive fired after 41 years with IBM. Castellucio v. Int'l Bus. Machs. Corp. (D. Conn. No 3:09-cv-01145 July 23, 2014).  The Court held that the jury properly awarded $2.5 million for age discrimination, and an additional $1.2 million for attorneys' fees and costs. The case arose when Joanne Collins-Smee became Castellucio's supervisor,...
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Maryland Court Rejects Retaliation Claim Based on Frivolous EEOC Charge

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/10/2014
The United States District Court for the District of Maryland held that employees do not engage in protected activity by refusing to comment about the work of a co-worker and/or that a conversation transpired between a supervisor and employees. Kearns v. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., No. ELH-11-1736 (D. Md., May 23, 2014). Michael Kearns alleged that his former employer, Northrup Grumman Systems Corporation, violated Title VII and the ADEA by...
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Court Rules That Allstate Left Its Agents in Good Hands

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
03/18/2014
In 1999, Allstate Insurance Company fired all of its employee agents and offered them four alternatives:  (1) convert to an independent contractor status and continue working as an exclusive agent; (2) convert to independent contractor status and sell the book of business they had developed; (3) receive an enhanced severance equal to one year’s pay; or (4) receive a basic severance of up to thirteen weeks of pay.  The first three options were...
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Exhaustion of FMLA Leave with No Return Date Dooms Plaintiff’s Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/18/2013
In Owens v. Calhoun County School District, No. 12-60897 (Oct. 8, 2013), the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s granting of summary judgment to an employer on a former employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim. Karen Darlene Mann Owens taught at Bruce Upper Elementary School in Mississippi for seventeen years until she was fired in February 2010.  Owens suffered from neck and back pain, conditions which worsened over the...
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Law School Has Right To Decide The Qualifications It Wants In Its Professors

Earlier this year, the Court of Specials Appeals found in favor of the University of Baltimore School of Law (UB) in an age discrimination suit brought by Donald Dobkin.  Dobkin v. Univ. of Balt. Sch. of Law, 210 Md. App. 580 (2013). In 2009, Dobkin applied to become a professor at the University.  Instead of hiring the then 56-year-old Dobkin (or hundreds of other applicants), UB hired a 32-year-old female for the position.  Dobkin then sued the...
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Supreme Court To Decide Age Discrimination Claims For Government Employees

This past Monday, March 18, 2013, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Madigan v. Levin, an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) case from the Seventh Circuit.  In Madigan, the issue  is whether state and local government employees can bring age discrimination claims directly under the Equal Protection Clause through Section 1983. The Seventh Circuit’s opinion conflicts with that of the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, each of...
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